Editor's note: An incorrect caption by Getty Images led to the wrong photo being used in an earlier version of this story. The photo has been fixed. The Dallas Morning News regrets the error.

It was nearly 11:30 when Mark Cuban emerged from the Mavericks draft room, grinning.

Yes, Cuban said, he's thrilled that Dallas selected 6-6 Virginia swingman Justin Anderson in the first round. But minutes before Cuban spoke to the media, Dallas had taken 7-2, 290-pound Satnam Singh with its second-round pick, No. 52 overall, and Cuban clearly was tickled.

"The legend of Satnam Singh is beginning," Cuban said, still smiling. "We wanted a big guy. We believe in creating legends in Dallas and we certainly created a legend."

No, Cuban wasn't proclaiming that Singh, 19, will immediately dominate in the NBA. Cuban was, in fact, making a play on words. Singh is a project, probably a longterm one. He will begin his career with the D-League's Texas Legends, Mavericks general manager and Legends owner Donnie Nelson confirmed.

Cuban and Nelson, though, see plenty of social significance and a potential marketing home run in making Singh the first Indian-born player to be drafted by an NBA team. Yes, Singh represents a mammoth, largely untapped fan market, but they see potential upside to the mammoth-sized Singh as a player.

Recall that in 1999, six months before Cuban bought the franchise, Nelson and his father, Don, took Wang Zhizhi with the 36th pick, making him the first native of China to be drafted by an NBA team. Two years later, Zhizhi made his NBA debut for the Mavericks late in the 2000-2001 season.

"There's a billion new Mavs fans out there right now," Cuban said of the Indian market. "But seriously, the guy is 9-foot-3. He's huge. No, he's enormous. And what we really liked about him, believe it or not, was when he came in here he really could shoot the ball. He was one of the better 3-point shooters that we brought through. It was shocking, but true."

Cuban also described Singh as "intense. He works hard."

Singh was raised in Ballo Ke, a tiny village in the Punjab region of India. For the past five years, he has played at IMG Academy in Florida. He would be the first player since the NBA put age restrictions in place in 2005 to enter the NBA without first playing in college, a professional foreign league or the D-League.

mobile-only dfpPosition1

But let's not get ahead of ourselves, Cuban warned. Singh's entry into regular-season NBA play probably won't occur anytime soon, though Cuban and Nelson said Singh will play for the Mavericks' summer league team in Las Vegas next month.

"He can shoot better than a lot of guys I'm looking at now," Cuban mused, smiling at reporters. "I mean, the guy's got skill. He hasn't played against top-level competition, so that's going to be the question."

And the social significance of drafting the first India-born player?

"Of course there is," Cuban said. "But remember, first he has to play in order for that to be viable. We think he has skills and we think there's a lot to him. He's just huge. He's enormous. People talk about hand-size now, but we had him measured internally and it was off-the-charts bigger than any other guy we've had come through. I mean, he makes a basketball look like a tennis ball.

"We'll find out. Obviously he's not fast. He's not the quickest guy going. But there's a lot of guys that have made a living in this league that weren't fast or quick that could block shots, protect the rim, bang and hit an open look. He's going to get that shot."

Kenny Natt, IMG's director of basketball, accompanied Singh to recent workouts with the Mavericks, Celtics, Wizards and Blazers, among other teams.

Singh spoke no English prior to his enrollment at IMG. He has picked up the language and culture - and there he was Thursday night, at the NBA draft in Brooklyn, celebrating his selection.

"It is very emotional for me to see Satnam make his dream a reality," Natt said. "I have watched Satnam grow up before my eyes and I am so proud of the many sacrifices and the hard work he has put in over the years - not only on the court and in the classroom, but the enormous amount of time spent away from his family as well. We will be anxiously watching as Satnam begins the next chapter in his career and life, representing IMG Academy, IMG Reliance, and the entire country of India."

Brad Townsend, Mavericks beat reporter. Brad covers the Dallas Mavericks and the NBA. He has been a Dallas Morning News sports reporter since 1993. Prior to that he worked at The Houston Chronicle and San Antonio Light.